Future of Vancouver, Oct 20, 2012

“The Future of Vancouver” Community Issues Forum

Initial post-meeting report: This meeting was attended by about 80 persons and unanimously adopted this resolution: Be it resolved that we call upon our Mayor and Council to honour their commitments to neighbourhood-based planning, stop creating city-wide policies without meaningful consultation, and halt spot rezonings that override community plans.

Click here for Oct 22 media release. A full report of the meeting, with presentations, will be posted here soon. A overwhelming sentiment at the meeting is that “Vancouver City Hall is breaking its social contract with citizens,” echoing this article, and that it is now time to make elected officials and public servants there more accountable. Neighbourhoods across the city need to support each other to have the community voices heard and call for more balance at City Hall.

3. Neighbourhood presentations (from several neighbourhoods at various stages of community/urban planning and implementation)

Grandview-Woodland – Jak King

Marpole – Isabelle Minty

West End – Randy Helten

Downtown Eastside – Ivan Drury and Herb Varley

Norquay – Joseph Jones

Cambie Corridor – Ned Jacobs

Shaughnessy – Mik Ball

Kitsilano – Greg Booth

Mount Pleasant – Rand Chatterjee

Research on building forms to be applied across Vancouver – Jeanette Joness

4. Open microphone, moderated session based on presentations
5. Next steps and closing

All citizens were welcome, regardless of affiliations, for a non-partisan discussion – to share information, hear others’ opinions and observations, and consider how the people of Vancouver can get this city back on track. In the past decade, even with changes in regime, City Hall has become increasingly top-down and inaccessible.

The meeting was a chance to have meaningful discussions about the present and future of our city and to connect with neighbours.